I have really tried to be a part of the Wikipedia community, but now, I am giving up. I just want to share what it feels like to someone who does not work for Wikipedia.

We are told we can make changes to anything (which isn't as easy as it sounds). We make a change and then almost immediately, someone deletes it without contact or comment. So we think something went wrong, and we make the change again. Again it is reversed. So we try again and again because we have no idea why some random person is reversing changes and not providing any sort of explanation at all. That sums up the problem to me. Editors are engaging in editing wars when they reverse changes and do not reach out or give any rationality as to why the change was reverted back. How would someone on the outside understand what is even going on?

What would really be helpful is if the person reversing the change could reach out and introduce themselves as an actual editor whose job it is to monitor that page. As well, if they could explain the problem and indicate why they had to remove the edit, then the person who posted would not keep trying again and again thinking it is just some troll trying to make trouble instead of an actual person who has authentic concern for the page content.

Here, you have to make "mistakes" just to learn about the process since it is that opaque. They say to use the Talk pages, but I have received little response to many of my questions, so that is not always the best route for trying to understand why an edit was reversed. I have also observed a lot of inconsistency of enforcement on page monitoring, as well as a lot of condescending attitude in some of the responses, as if no one should be editing the pages except for a select few. That seems opposite of Wikipedia's advertised policy and etiquette rules.

I have also found numerous webpages and discussions where others have experienced the same frustrations I have been having. Wikimedia has even acknowledged that this is a problem for them, but they don't seem to be doing anything to create a less hostile environment for those outsiders who want to do the right thing and bother to learn the convoluted syntax.

I really like Wikipedia. I have even donated a little money to the cause, which I will no longer do. I wanted to help fix incorrect info as I found it randomly and add where I could as I could. I wish the whole environment was more welcoming.